On 7 June Charanjit Kang, a recent member of the club, described Barnardo\u2019s support for children and the values that underpin its work. Barnardo\u2019s is Britain\u2019s largest children\u2019s charity and has been in operation for 150 years. Its strapline is \u2018Believe in Children\u2019; no child should be turned away. Charanjit is Assistant Head of Business Family Placement South East and responsible for fostering and adoption services in the South East and London Region. Charanjit talked about Barnardo\u2019s values and policies, and how she is able to resonate to some of these in both personal and professional areas.<\/p>\n
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Charanjit previously worked for NCH (National Children\u2019s Home, now Action for Children) and has been a social worker for over 25 years. She has been active in most areas of social work \u2013 children and their families, young people, adult mental health, youth offending services and family centres – in various roles from frontline to management and teaching. She is also a trustee of Stevenage World Forum and runs a couple of children\u2019s nurseries.<\/p>\n
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One of Charanjit\u2019s first jobs with Barnardo\u2019s was three years ago, managing its Family Placement Services in Durham, although at first she wasn\u2019t sure where it was! Charanjit noted that Barnardo\u2019s is a very multicultural organisation so it soon felt very familiar. One of the most important principles of the Sikh religion, of which Charanjit is a member, is \u2018Seva\u2019, a Sanskrit word which describes the act of\u00a0<\/strong>selfless service to give back to the community. So each Gurdwara supports all the community and especially the poor and will give a meal to anyone, regardless of their religion or caste.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In recent years attitudes towards adoption have become much more open. Charanjit is Barnardo\u2019s regional agency decision maker. She manages four operations managers who in turn manage frontline staff. Most of the children under their care live in Essex, Kent and London, with only a few in Hertfordshire. Referrals from local authorities can often reach 100 a day.<\/p>\n Charanjit and her staff operate out of four services, to support placements, new applications for foster carers\u00a0 and adopters and post placement support services. Charanjit described the \u2018Staying Put,\u2019 arrangements whereby children fostered by Barnardo\u2019s do not have to move out of their placement at the age 16 but can stay until they are at least 21.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Charanjit\u2019s role is a strategic one covering fostering, adoption support and support for birth families. Much of her work involves safeguarding, protection and supporting children to experience positive life chances.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Charanjit described the work of \u2018Connecting Adoptive Families Independent Services\u2019 (CAFIS). This is a post adoption support service, providing intermediary and access to records for adopted adults and birth family members including descendants. Also includes Statutory Independent Birth Parents\u2019 Support, Birth Family Support Groups and indirect and direct contact support for birth families and adopters. The Adoption Services involves recruiting, training and supporting adopters to provide permanency placements.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Barnardo\u2019s philosophy is that a child should be happy, well looked-after, educated, and in a family. Charanjit said that there are a number of issues that impact on why children cannot remain in birth families, one being mental health, as this can be a significant factor in family dysfunction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The success of the current birth parent project depends on the situation being seen at least partly from the birth parents\u2019 point of view, since otherwise there will always be a gap in the child\u2019s understanding. The most successful placements – and the most successful life as an adult – are the result of a child knowing as he\/she grows up, not only that they were adopted, but possessing detailed information about their life story from birth. At times the work can be quite overwhelming but care of and focus on the child is always the priority.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Charanjit discussed the various court orders in relation to child care and explained that permanency is very important for all children, and discussed the implications and implementation of special guardianship order and adoption order. Birth family and knowing your identity are an essential part of the child\u2019s life story work. Parental responsibility was discussed in detail. It is a legal duty for a child to have ongoing contact with their birth family, which is only reduced when an adoption order is made. A court will have to make a decision in the child\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every child has a CPR (Child\u2019s Permanence Report) when a plan for adoption is made. The CPR is an important report which is kept as part of the child’s adoption record for 100 years after an adoption order is made. The report has a wide audience and so it is important that clear, balanced and inclusive language is used throughout The purpose of the report is to inform decision making by the Agency Decision Maker (ADM), the court and the adoption panel, to inform family finding and help prospective adopters understand the life experiences and needs of children when they are no longer able to remain with their birth parents. Also to provide the adopted child\/adult with information to help understand their life story. The report will also be shared with the birth parents to seek their views, wishes and feelings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adopters are provided with comprehensive information about a child in order to ensure that all matching considerations are explored. A\u00a0placement order, or care order with a plan for adoption, should be made only as a last resort, where nothing else will do. The interests of a child would self-evidently require the relationship with natural parents to be maintained unless no other course was possible in the child\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Barnardo\u2019s is proud to be a learning organisation and also provides a great deal of dialogue and support for disadvantaged sectors of society and movements such as Black Lives Matter. Anti-discriminatory practice is part of its core training for staff. Barnardo\u2019s aims to work hard to combat unconscious bias and the multiple social benefits that come from being a member of the dominant race, by exploring this with colleagues and bringing it to the forefront at political level. At the heart of Barnardo\u2019s culture are its core values: respecting every person\u2019s unique worth, encouraging people to fulfil their potential, and working with hope. The hope is for a better future for all children, this being the foundation of inspiration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Although Barnardo\u2019s is a charity, it has a big corporate aspect and is the UK\u2019s largest children’s charity in terms of charitable expenditure. During the pandemic since its shops were closed, there has been a significant loss of income which has had a devastating impact on finances, as with most charities. As we move out of the crisis into challenging and uncertain times, Barnardo\u2019s role is more important than ever. At a time of increased pressure on statutory services, Barnardo\u2019s will continue to play a vital role in supporting children and their families to stay safe and achieve positive outcomes.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n After Charanjit\u2019s talk one of the members of the club spoke movingly about Barnardo\u2019s support for several members of their family, ensuring they kept in touch with their parents and siblings, giving them an education and paying for their training and hostel accommodation as they entered adulthood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 7 June Charanjit Kang, a recent member of the club, described Barnardo\u2019s support for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":4582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,11,10],"class_list":["post-4581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-club-news","tag-barnardos","tag-charanjit","tag-speaker"],"yoast_head":"\n